Am I the only one that thinks that Edward Snowden is actually a good guy for what he did? The man gave up his life in Hawaii, his job that gave him around six-figures, his banging wife, just for him to expose the so-called "freedom" induced government that stand above us. The guy is now hiding an a Moscow airport and is probably going to end up living in some apartment in Caracas, the city with the highest crime-rate on Earth I believe, and for what? We all just go through our lives, day by day. "Living un-freely but comfortably is just human nature" - Ed Snowden.

Funny thing, perception. To the United States government right now, he committed "Espionage" and is no different from a common terrorist.

Now if a revolution does break out, maybe brought on by the government oversteping on surveillance, whatever new country that springs up in the wake of "Old America" will see Edward Snowden as a patriotic hero for exposing the tyranical old government for what it was, on par with any of the original founding fathers.

If it is human nature to live unfreely but comfortably, why upset that by a) Trying to free us from our government's secure (though ultimately invasive) system and b) Making us uncomfortable by telling us what our government is really up to.

This is just my opinion you are are free to disagree but this is what I have disseminated about the usa situation. These people are to good for "whistle blowers" to exist. This is a simple bloodletting to psychologically prime people to become comfortable with the idea that they are being observed. Snowden was likely setup but maybe the truth isn't stranger than fiction I guess that's the whole game

I agree with you I said this on my facebook onetime:
"I don't think Edward Snowden deserves to be imprisoned or shot.
i actually agree with what Snowden did.
Even if it was Russia spying on people illegally
I'd say the same same thing...
Oh wait they do so they have nothing to talk about either."
Okay I know the Russia part was bit of a stretch.
However they had their share of this kind of stuff too.
Also if it was a Russian spy hiding in America.
Don't tell me they wouldn't hide them.

nah, you and millions of people think that he is a hero for sacrificing himself, and revealing the truth. this is the **** we have been laughing our asses of watching movies and tv-shows from USA, and at least the surveillance stuff ..its true..ermagherd.

they have no right to spy on all of us, "innocent until proven guilty" my ass, and microsoft with their "your privacy is our priority"
"microsoft makes list of 2012 most trusted companies for privacy" [url deleted]

"Am I the only one??!!1 Guise Am I the only one!?!?2" Lets see, well judging by the 50+ posts bashing the NSA and talking about how amazing Snowden is in the last few weeks, I'm going to say you're nowhere near being close to the only one, srs brah.

uh, no, you're obviously not the only one. But the major media networks are all in the pocket of the government, in one way or another, so they are all calling him a traitor and blah blah blah. It's completely ridiculous, a man telling us the honest truth about how every single american citizen who uses the internet is secretly having their 4th amendment rights violated by the very body whose job it is to protect those rights. The whole thing is absolutely ludicrous, this guy literally brought to light one of the biggest mass violations of human rights (as for total number of people effected, obviously not for severity on a case by case basis) and is (unsurprisingly) having his other human rights violated repeatedly by the very people who have been violating ALL of our rights, whilst they simultaneously goad the media into doing their best to paint this guy as the villain, and the government as the good guy.

It makes me honestly, literally, sick. The NSA has shamed themselves, and every US Citizen with their actions, and they should be the ones who are prosecuted.

In the US government's eyes, there are no violations. They passed a lot of formal legislation to make these surveillance programs legal. The Bill of Rights is NOT unlimited in scope. If it was, it'd be impractical. And there are cases where free speech might cause others harm. They see it as a trade-off between certain liberties and national security.

Is it legal? Technically, yeah. The question now: Is it ethical? And the context seems to indicate a strong 'no'.

Oh I never said it was illegal, I'm well aware that they made damn sure to put enough loopholes in place prior to their flagrant disregard for the constitution to keep them nice and safe from prosecution. I agree that the rights listed in the amendments to the constitution do have some wiggle room built in, so as not to cause anarchy, but that wiggle room does not allow for actions that are in direct contention of those rights unless a person is engaged in a criminal act.

The constitution is not our nation's laws (and I'm sure you know this, anon, but there might be some people that will find this educational) but are rather a set of guidelines that laws are supposed to follow in order for those laws to remain in effect. The vast majority of unconstitutional bills never make it past committee, but some do, and sometimes they even travel all through our legislative branch successfully, get signed into law by the executive branch, and then, some years down the line, the judicial branch of our government will strike down such laws for their breach of the constitution. The rights guaranteed by the constitution are all under the stipulation that in making use of those rights, you do not prevent another US citizen from retaining their own rights (covered in the 9th amendment). The federal government's power is limited to what powers it is granted in the constitution (10th amendment). So, for the federal government to not sidestep the 4th amendment when dealing with a criminal or non-citizen, but instead simply disregard it and do the exact thing it was intended to prevent, they not only breach the 4th amendment, they also breach the 9th and 10th amendments, and they aren't protected by the Necessary and Proper clause in article 1 of the constitution because their actions are expressly forbidden by the 4th amendment.

Don't know why I felt the need to go on that rant, I guess this whole deal just really pisses me off.

I'm pretty sure you're more educated than I am on the subject to be honest. And as for your ranting, to know that the Bill of Rights is being wholly violated is a very good reason to be pissed off. Yet again, is this okay in light of national security?

This is a question that I'm not very sure about. By the way, there is an interesting monument in front of the national IRS headquarters. As far as I've read, it has nearly the entire Constitution written on it, besides the Bill of Rights. However, a nearby decorative pillar has the words, "The Bill of Rights was not ordained by Nature or God. It is very human, very fragile." There are of course several possible connotations. The fact that we must now question which, however, is a bit unsettling.

If someone seeing my Internet history is considered unfree, then I don't mind it. It really doesn't inhibit me. I guess I'm just comfortably unfree. Better than bathing and moaning about it without doing anything.

He absolutely did the overall right thing revealing this information, but I don't agree that it really matters so much that he should be hunted down, or people should hate the government.